Figure 1.--This post card was mailed in France during 1915. It was a New Yers card. At the bottom it reads, "Prions ensemble mon petit pour notre soldat ch�ri." That means "Let's pray together my little for our beloved soldier." This card was used for a family letter.

The casulaties in World War I were horendous. Neither the soldiers who enthuistically marched off to war or the cheering crowds in August 1914 expected the level of casulaties experienced or the duration of the War. The casualties was in part because of the development of new lethal weapons, including machine guns, improved artillry, airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and other refinements while commanders employed outmolded tactics. Europe had not fought a major war since the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and thus tactics taking these improvents in weaponery had not yet been developed. The result was killing and maiming on an inustrial scale. The professional armies that began the War was desimated. Each combatant county was forced to draft huge conscript armies. Virtually every family had loved ones at the front. The commanders in the major combatant countries were slow to learn how fundamentally warfare had changed. This was made clear to the British at the Somme in 1916. After the professional British Army was desimated in 1914-15, Lord Kitchner called on the British to volunteer for the Army. The Somme was the testing ground for this new volunteer Army. It was nothing short of a castastophe. The first day of the Somme was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. More than 20,000 British soldiers were killed outright and 60,000 injured in a single day. Incrediably about 60 per cent of British Army officers were killed that day. The Somme offensive was conducted from July 1 to November 18, 1916. It was planned as the decisive breakthrough for the Allies. Instead it turned into a slow battle of attrition resulting in more than a million casualties. Consider the impact of 70,000 American deahs in Vietnam and the impact on American society. Than you begin to appreciate the impact of World War I on Europe. The Somme was just one battle. The French-German struggle over Verdun was an even more bloody struggle. The German commnder designed the Verdun to bleed the French Army. He was successful in doing just that. After Verdun the French Army was near mutiny and no longer capable of offensive opperations. Losses by the Russians on the Eastern Front were even more horrendous, leading to the abdication of the Tsar and eventually to the Bloshevick Revolution. Notably the casualties were primarily military..

Terrible Casualties

The casulaties in World War I were horendous. It was the mostly costly war up to the time in European history. Even higher casualties were reported in World War II, in part because of the terrible losses reported by the Soviet Union and the wider scope of the fighting. (World War I, despite it name was a largely European War.) Neither the soldiers who enthuistically marched off to war or the cheering crowds in August 1914 expected the level of casulaties experienced or the duration of the War. Over 65 million men were mobilized for the War. The Allies mobilized about twice the number of the Central Powers, in part because Russia was part of the Allied coalition and there were more countries which joined the Allies. Of that total over 8.5 million men were killed and over 21 million wounded. Russia, France, Germany, and Austro-Hungary all lost more than 1 million men. The Russians and Germans lost nearly 2 million men. Nearly 8 million men were missing or taken prisioner. This left a casualty rate of over 50 percent for both sides. Especially notable was the huge number of Austrian-Hungarian taken prioner. Casualty rates were especially high for the Russias, French, Germans, and Austro-Hungarians (over 70 percet). British Empire losses were much lower, I think because Britain did not have a large army at the onset of the War. American casualty rates were the lowest of the major combvatants, less than 10 percent. In essence a whole generation of Europeans were destroyed in the War--either killed or crippled. Out of that broken generation emerged the two murderous totalitarian tyranies (Communism and Fascism) who would destroy even larger nummbers of people.

Cause

The casualties was in part because of the development of new lethal weapons. The Napoleonic Wars had resulted in hugh battlefield deaths. Europe in the ensuing period had a century to pit its new industrial genis at work developing more terrible weapons. The new weapons included machine guns, improved artillry, airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and other refinements while commanders employed outmolded tactics. Europe had not fought a major war since the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and thus tactics taking these improvents in weaponery had not yet been developed. The result was killing and maiming on an inustrial scale.

Conscription

The professional armies that began the War was desimated. All the major combatants (except Britain and America) had conscription laws before the War. Each combatant county was forced to draft huge conscript armies. Both Britain (anfd the Dominions) and America had to introduce conscription. Virtually every family had loved ones at the front. The commanders in the major combatant countries were slow to learn how fundamentally warfare had changed.

Country Experiences

All the major combatant countries experienced horendous casualties. The defective tactics was made clear to the British at the Somme in 1916. After the professional British Army was desimated in 1914-15, Lord Kitchner called on the British to volunteer for the Army. The Somme was the testing ground for this new volunteer Army. It was nothing short of a castastophe. The first day of the Somme was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. More than 20,000 British soldiers were killed outright and 60,000 injured in a single day. Incrediably about 60 per cent of British Army officers were killed that day. The Somme offensive was conducted from July 1 to November 18, 1916. It was planned as the decisive breakthrough for the Allies. Instead it turned into a slow battle of attrition resulting in more than a million casualties. Consider the impact of 70,000 American deahs in Vietnam and the impact on American society. Than you begin to appreciate the impact of World War I on Europe. The Somme was just one battle. The French-German struggle over Verdun was an even more bloody struggle. The German commnder designed the Verdun campaign to bleed the French Army. He was successful in doing just that. After Verdun the French Army was near mutiny and no longer capable of offensive opperations. Losses by the Russians on the Eastern Front were even more horrendous, leading to the abdication of the Tsar and eventually to the Bloshevick Revolution.

Civilians

Notably the casualties were primarily military. This may seem obvious, but it has not always been the case in history. But it was the case in most modern wars leading up to Wold War I. Before the modern era, civilians often suffered grievously, especially because militarizes lived off the land and often plundered civilian communities. It was not uncommon for armies put civilians to the sword or enslave , especially civilian in besieged cities. There were exceptions, the Germans treated civilians in Belgium severely, even seizing the civilian food supply. Belgians would have starved had it not been for the American relief food supplies. Serbians also suffered terribly under Austrian and German occupation. Turkey lunched the Armenian genocide. For the most part, however, civilian casualties were light compared to military casualties. This was not the case in World War II. Many believe that the Allied strategic bombing campaign was a major factor. This was not the case. Deaths due to the bombing were a rounding factor in the enormous civilian loss of life. What caused most civilian casualties was the Axis powers willingness to kill, especially Germany and Japan. NAZI German made the murder of civilians a major war goal. This was not just hatred for the Jews. In fact the Jews were a minority of those killed. The initial NAZI goal was to murder tens of millions of people to trans form the ethnic composition if Eastern Europe--Generalplan Ost. The Japanese killing was different. They did set out to clear areas of Manchuria for Japanese migration, but there is no indication they planned to transform China. They did kill millions in China. This was primarily to terrify the Chinese into submission. Famine was a major killer in China. This was a combination of incompetent economic policies and using food as a weapon. Japanese killing outside of China was a combination of incompetent management creating gamine, forced labor, and terror employed during occupation.

Created: January 17, 2003
Last updated: 1:30 PM 10/16/2025